I was going to call this a ticking time bomb, but I guess the ticker done blow'd, eh? (yes, J Salmon, it's yours) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I got mine "unshielded" in time (well, with a slight sign of damage/deformation to one of the RH header pipes). Now I've had them ceramic coated and hope they will last quite a while. I think there will be no more heat damage. The ceramic coating will keep more of the heat in the pipes (versus naked pipes) but hopefully the fact that the pipes are no longer sandwiched in a sardine can and have some air gap around each pipe will allow them to operate at a more reasonable temperature without damaging surrounding items. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=273629&page=2
How are the temps in the engine bay? Have you thermal scanned the area to see if the temps vary from the stock heat shielded headers? Was any additional heat shielding required around the alternater, brake lines, ect?
It's not all back together yet. I did not do any temp. measurements prior. I still have to add heat shields to the alternator and A/C compressor areas. I'm sure they are needed to avoid greatly shortening the life of these parts. I don't think brake lines are an issue. I added additional heat shielding to the the "wimpy" fiberglass shields on the oil tank and the CV joint boot shields. Still wish the CV joint boot shields were larger and better shaped to provide more protection. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Cool pics, Whens she running again, take some thermal scan readings around the engine bay and I will do the same (stock manfolds).....see how they compare. (I have thought about pulling my heat shields as well)
Will do. Although we will have to make some adjustment for our respective ambient temperatures since you're in Canada and I'm in the Mojave Desert I've put heat shielding on one of my air boxes but not the other so I'll be able to do comparisons on those under the exact same circumstances. If you do keep the heat shielding I would definitely get rid of the 4 cats. on your car if you haven't done so already. I think that's a major contributing factor to their early failure on many cars.
I still have the cats on my car although the main cats are the less restrictive hyperflows and the exhaust is a race tubi. I'll do my best to get the heat up (8500 rpm runs?) though.
With the high speed driving most of the exhaust gas, it's my understanding, goes through the upper cats. I have the idea that under these circumstances the "backed-up heat" from these cats. may do a lot of the header damage. The upper cats. in the Y-pipe also seem to have a reputation for breaking loose (one of mine was). Don't know if this makes it more free flowing or causes some blockage. Either way I would get rid of these by gutting the original Y-pipe or installing a Fabspeed Y-pipe. I don't think there are any smog checks around 4000 rpm or above so the bypass valve should stay closed and the upper cats. should not come into play during the test (or the "missing" upper cats.). In addition, having the upper cats. in place probably adds a fair bit of heat in the area of the air boxes. Not helpful for performance.
